What does resilience and adaptability mean to you?

Common themes for 2021 off the back of the year we have had…resilience and adaptability.  This article will explore what they mean (let’s get back to basics), how does it apply personally, how does it apply professionally and key practical tips to be more resilient and adaptable.

This all comes down to experience so keen to get your practical view and experience on this – what works and what doesn’t so we can share this as a community.

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What does this mean?

Let’s go back to the basics, the dictionary.

Resilience is defined as:

the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

"the often remarkable resilience of so many British institutions"

 the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.

"nylon is excellent in wearability, abrasion resistance and resilience"

Adaptability is defined as:

the quality of being able to adjust to new conditions.

"adaptability is an advantage in the harshly competitive global economy"

the capacity to be modified for a new use or purpose.

"this is a good example of the adaptability of listed buildings"

How does it apply to me personally? 

CHANGE IS CONSTANT. 

Being able to adapt to change and deal with things life throws at you (resilience) is critical to your happiness and success.  That doesn’t mean that you are always ok or you are always having a good day.  It means that you take what life gives you and make the best of it.  Some days this is not easy, other days it is. 

ADAPTABILITY ALLOWS YOU TO PROACTIVE CHANGE BASED ON A CHANGE IN CIRCUMSTANCE. 

It means embracing the change and looking for the positives, opportunities and way to make the best of the situation.  It’s an important skill in your personal life for the challenges that life will throw at us.

My mother always told me …life is not fair…which I didn’t like and thought maybe she was wrong but I have learnt this also to be true.  Life throws its challenge at everyone – what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger – but it’s how you bounce back is your true sense of character.  Everyone has a story, everyone has tragedy – so that doesn’t make you unique but your response determines the impact to your life – if you are resilient you bounce back / recover quickly.

Most of you will resonate with this BUT it takes some difficulty in your life for you to really know and appreciate how resilient you are.  Your inner strength, what you can deal with and how you respond normally surprises you – so be kind to yourself and reflect if this is true for you.

How does it apply to me professionally? 

Managing organisational change – adapting, responding and showing resilience through change will make you a strong leader and role model in the organisation.  It’s hard to find leaders that are happy to champion change.  To be able to manage change well with your team you need to explain the why and how it impacts them and the team.  Be a good communicator.

Leading by example & navigating your team through change – it ties into the managing organisational change but leading by example in words and actions and ensuring a clear message of leadership to your team.  Teams go on a journey with change – people respond differently and go through various phases of responding to change as demonstrated by the change curve below.  As a leader you are responsible to manage and help your team work through change to allow them to be both adaptable and more resilient.

Organisational change requires strong leadership, an ability to be decisive, communicate and take the employees on the journey with you.  This is the role of the CEO and the leadership team and will define the success of a leadership team – the ability for them to make change and take the employees on the journey.

Practical Guide

At Whiteark we are all about creating practical guides and tools to apply for key principles.  So see two below that we think are great for improving adaptability and resilience.

The 7 C’s of Resilience:

Dr Ginsburg, child paediatrician and human development expert, proposes that there are 7 integral and interrelated components that make up being resilient in Children that can apply to all of us – the detail is below:

1. Competence - People need to be seen when they are doing something right and to be given opportunities to develop specific skills. If people in business have a particular passion for something or aptitude for a specific skill, activity or sport, we need to recognise this and let them know we’ve noticed and encourage them.
2. Confidence - The solid belief in one’s own abilities is everything. As we teach and nurture, we build  confidence. We need to be careful not to undermine confidence but develop it by pushing our team to achieve and creating age-appropriate opportunities for experiencing success.
3. Connection - When people are part of a community (class, team, club) they know they aren’t alone if they struggle and that they can develop creative solutions to problems. Close ties to family, friends, and building a sense of community at work can get team members sense of security.
4. Character - People need an understanding of right and wrong and the capacity to follow a moral compass. A fundamental sense of right and wrong helps people make wise choices, contribute to the world.
5. Contribution - The experience of offering their own service makes it easier for people to ask for help when they need it. Once people understand the feel-good factor of helping others, it becomes easier to ask for help when it’s needed – being willing to ask for help is a big part of being resilient. People who learn to cope effectively with stress are better prepared to overcome life’s challenges.
6. Coping - People need healthy coping strategies to manage their stress. Some strategies involve engaging and disengaging such as breaking down seemingly impossible  problems and challenges into smaller, achievable pieces, avoiding things that trigger extreme anxiety, and just letting some things go.
7. Control - People need to feel like they have a degree of control over their lives and their environment. When they realise that they can control their decisions and actions, they’re more likely to know that they have what it takes to bounce back.

4 Ways to Boost Your Adaptability Skills

1. Change Your Thought Process. Let go of the “Well, that's the way we've always done it” mentality
2. Force Yourself to Take Risks. Little progress is made without risk. ...how do you encourage failure in our organisation and innovation as it’s powerful and important
3. Encourage Others to Be Open Minded. One of the best ways you can develop an open mind is to encourage others to do the same
4. Embrace Learning.  Always learn from others, from situations and make the most of everything

Well it’s fair to say that resilience and adaptability are key skills to be successful in life and work – so very important. 

These skills and the ability to be able to apply them in business will allow companies to respond to changes in market, customer and consumer expectations and unexpected financial or commercial issues that occur.  Building a leadership team of resilient and adaptable people will be a key differentiator for an organisation.

Determine what kind of leader you want to be and be proactive in creating this. Start by having a think about what resilience and adaptability means to you? Join the conversation online by Searching for Whiteark on LinkedIn. Whiteark chat with a chief every week to learn from leaders in their field so if you want to learn from experienced leaders tune into The Chiefs podcast series.

AT WHITEARK WE HAVE HANDS ON PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE HELPING LEADERS TO BUILD RESILIENCE AND ADAPTABILITY. PLEASE REACH OUT FOR A NO OBLIGATION CONVERSATION.

Whiteark is not your average consulting firm, we have first-hand experience in delivering transformation programs for private equity and other organisations with a focus on people just as much as financial outcomes.

We understand that execution is the hardest part, and so we roll our sleeves up and work with you to ensure we can deliver the required outcomes for the business. Our co-founders have a combined experience of over 50 years’ working as Executives in organisations delivering outcomes for shareholders. Reach out for a no obligation conversation on how we can help you. Contact us on [email protected]

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Leadership, Business Growth, People, Resilience